Gills Onions Expands Recall of Vegetables for Possible Listeria

Gills Onions LLC of California is expanding its July 18 recall of diced and slivered red and yellow onions and diced celery and onion mix to include more products. Now, diced, slivered, and whole peeled onions and diced onion/celery mix with use-by dates on or before August 3, 2012 are included in the recall for possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination.

The products were shipped directly from Gills Onions to retailers in Canada and in these states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Montana, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, and Washington. Listeria monocytogenes was found at the facility where the product was processed on July 18. As a precautionary measure, Gills Onions has expanded the recall to include all products processed in that facility on that day. The facility has been out of service since July 17 pending the outcome of the investigation.

Gills Onions is requesting that all customers who received the product remove it from commerce. You can see the list of all products, along with the lot codes, use-by dates, and UPC codes, at the FDA web site.

Steve Gill, president of the company, said, “our priority right now is to carry out this recall effectively and efficiently in order to reduce the risk to public health. We’ve identified the problem, and we are taking aggressive actions to prevent this from happening again. These actions include the formulation of a panel of food safety experts and microbiologists with expertise in Listeria control, an expansion of the required microbial surveillance and sanitation programs, and continued testing.”

No illnesses have been reported in connection with the consumption of these products. There may be more recalls issued, like the recall of Ciolo products from Whole Foods Markets, since the vegetables were most likely used to make other foods. For questions, call Gills Onions at 1-888-220-0436 Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm PDT.